BEING THANKFUL

“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.”
—Philippians 1:3-5

THE APOSTLE PAUL was thankful to God for the fellowship of other Christians. He saw other believers as a great blessing from God and therefore Paul was diligent to pray for his fellow saints in Christ. Paul knew that God had saved him by His grace alone, and God’s grace had caused Paul to recognize that he deserved none of God’s good gifts, let alone the salvation of his soul. As a result, Paul’s prayers are filled with thanksgiving to God for the gift of faith that the Philippian believers had received from the Lord, and for the tangible expressions of love they showed as evidence of their true faith. 

ARE YOU THANKFUL to God for other Christians? Do you praise God for saving fellow believers? Do you faithfully pray for them or are you so wrapped up in yourself that you don’t even consider the struggles of fellow believers? Do you seek out the fellowship of those who call upon the Lord out of a true heart to encourage them in their walk with Christ? The Apostle Paul admonished the young pastor Timothy to, “Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Tim. 2:22). This is in keeping with the principle practices of the early church, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts. 2:42). 

THESE ARE THE very means of grace that God gives the church to persevere in the faith. Canons of Dort, 5th Head of Doctrine, Article 14, “And, just as it has pleased God to begin this work of grace in us by the proclamation of the Gospel, so He preserves, continues, and completes His work by the hearing and reading of the Gospel, by meditation on it, by its exhortations, threats, and promises, and also by the use of the sacraments.” Are you faithfully exercising yourself in the means of grace that God uses to cause His Church to persevere to the end? 

Tuesday Encouragement: October 8, 2024
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry